Under the leadership of the Commissioner of Public Health, the Government of the District of Columbia proposes to collaborate with the Department of Corrections and the mayor's Office on Latino Affairs, to bear on the problem of high infant mortality in the city under a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. District of Columbia Government is particularly interested in targeting three Wards for research and the testing of interventions to reduce infant mortality and related problems such as low birthweight, intrauterine growth retardation and preterm delivery. Wards 1, 2, and 4 not only exhibit high rates of infant mortality, but also are the city's most diverse in terms of population. With the collaboration of the Mayor's Office on Latino Affairs, the city's team will be better able to address issues affecting Spanish-speaking residents. The Department of Corrections participation will allow research on determinants. affecting women incarcerated for part or all of their pregnancies or participating in community-based programs. The Commission of Public Health's Office of Maternal and child Health will coordinate DHS's resources -- health clinics, social service agencies, and data systems -- that will contribute to the cooperative effort. The District of Columbia's intent is to fully participate in a city-wide effort to develop research designs and interventions to be tested as the first step in a five year effort to significantly reduce the rate of infant mortality. The resources the city brings to this effort ensure access to women served by the city's public clinics, Spanish-speaking women, and women involved in the correctional system, as well as the significant databases maintained by the District Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington has also agreed to join in the government's efforts, to ensure that issues related to family planning are addressed in the planning effort. The District proposes that the areas of research and intervention to be addressed include access, outreach, use of service design and delivery. The primary site serving the targeted Wards for testing models of interventions will be a new facility, Hope of Families, to be supported by District of Columbia appropriated funds, which is scheduled to begin operation by the end of the first quarter of FY 1993.